Adventures of a Desi KnitterKnitting (and now sewing!) keeps an Indian academic sane in the States. Almost.

Ping pong

§ September 13th, 2009 § Filed under Baby things, Mittens, Gloves, etc § 2 Comments

I knit two tiny table-tennis bats, a.k.a. infant mittens.

These are also for my three-month old niece, whose tiny hands are very cold in her western Mass house, and so of course she needed some baby cashmere mittens. I modified this basic pattern, which was very helpful to get a sense of dimensions. My mods:
Cast on 48 sts on size 0 dpns,
Knit 2×2 rib for 21 rows,
Knit a row of k2, yo, k2tog all around to make eyelets,
Knit straight stockinette for 22 rows,
[k1, ssk, k18, k2tog, k1] twice,
Knit 2 rows,
[k1, ssk, k16, k2tog, k1] twice,
knit 1 row,
continued decreases every row as established, till I had 16 stitches total,
divided on to two needles equally, and grafted the top.

Then I doubled the yarn and made two chains of crochet, about 50 loops each and threaded it into the eyelets. This was specifically requested by the mum, as a way to keep the mittens secure on the tiny fists. Let’s hope that works!

They do feel like Miniature ping pong bats, sturdy and flat, despite the cashmere-alpaca blend. I have to say, Elann’s Baby Cashmere is a very soft, but crappy yarn. I bought this as a sample last year, and it had disintegrated in three different places in the skein! I had to spit-splice it together which was not pleasant and resulted in unsightly bumps. It hasn’t inspired me to buy more.

But here’s hoping my niece’s tiny, bunched up fists will soon be warm and toasty, with lots of love from her maushi.